


loose ends by the score

by advantagetexas



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: M/M, besides that its kid friendly, handjobs get mentioned a few times, my special emotionally challenged son, very introspective on dex's part
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-13
Updated: 2017-06-13
Packaged: 2018-11-13 20:41:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11193000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/advantagetexas/pseuds/advantagetexas
Summary: William Poindexter had a problem. Said problem’s name was Derek Nurse. His linemate, his roommate, his eternal fucking pain in the ass and the most beautiful, kind, and caring man he’d ever met.





	loose ends by the score

**Author's Note:**

> title is from Tallahassee by The Mountain Goats, aka one of my favorite songs ever. also, this is my first time writing for this fandom in a long time, so critiques are appreciated!

_“Desire is no light thing.” –Anne Carson_

 

William Poindexter had a problem. Said problem’s name was Derek Nurse. His linemate, his roommate, his eternal fucking pain in the ass and the most beautiful, kind, and caring man he’d ever met.

Nursey was…an enigma. Dex still hadn’t been able to figure him out, no matter how much he tried. He’d tried reading Nursey’s published poetry (the Swallow ran a weekly column) and then mentioning details about it to him subtly, but that hadn’t worked. I mean, you’d assume the favorite season of the guy who’d written seven separate odes to autumn leaves would be fall, but no, apparently it was summer.

He’d tried just generally interacting with Nursey, but that always devolved into shouting matches and hurt feelings, so he’d stopped trying. Really the only times he’d managed to crack Nursey’s chill exterior was late at night or on the bench during games. Dex would ask a deep, philosophical question, and Nursey would give a deep, philosophical answer. It was almost their nightly routine. Brush teeth, check. Pajamas, check. Ask Nursey about his thoughts on the permanency of the human condition, check.

But that wasn’t enough for Dex. He had this clawing feeling in his gut that just wouldn’t go away whenever Nursey was around. He often found himself staring at his shoulders, or his hands. He wasn’t proud to admit this, but he’d also snuck the smallest peek while they were changing in the locker room once and uh, that certainly had not helped the problem go away.

This feeling was entirely new for Dex. Like, sure, he’d had fantasies before. You see a cute guy in a club or on the street and fantasize about a wild one night stand, that was normal. But this… _thing_ that he had for Nursey wasn’t that. Normal people didn’t fantasize about buying kitchen towels and dish soap with just any guy off the street. They didn’t have dreams about waking up next to them, feeling the warmth radiating off them under the sheets, and wanting nothing more than to just curl against them.

And then there was the cologne issue. Nursey wore a very specific type of cologne, something really fancy and expensive. It was the strangest mix Dex had ever seen, but somehow it managed to smell sweet and cold at the same time. It also managed to give Dex a boner every time he smelled it. Which was definitely less than ideal.

It was also the reason why he was currently hiding in the hall closet during this kegster. Nursey had brushed past him, cologne and all, which was enough to make Dex need to take a leave of absence from the party. He was currently standing against the wall, head in his hands in shame, just waiting for this fucking nightmare to end.

“I hate this, and I hate parties, and most of all I fucking hate Derek Nurse,” Dex whispered to himself.

And then, as if the world had said “speak of the devil and he shall appear”, the door quickly swings open, and before Dex can say anything to the contrary, someone smashes themselves into the small remaining space in front of him, slamming the door shut.

“Sorry man, this chick keeps harassing me and I don’t want to tell her straight out that she’s creeping me out,” came the voice of none other than Derek Nurse from the darkness. Dex pressed himself closer to the wall, hoping beyond hope that this wouldn’t get any more awkward.

“No problem dude, I completely understand,” he says quietly, prompting a barely audible gasp from Nursey.

“Oh, Dex, hey. Well, this is, uh,” he stuttered, the chill façade breaking down in the face of this awkward situation.

“It’s fine. Wait the girl out and then you can leave and we’ll never speak of this again,” Dex sighed, hoping beyond hope that Nursey would just stay on his side of the closet.

“Thanks, that’s super chill of you,” Nursey replied, the relief clear in his voice.

They waited there for almost a full minute in silence before things went completely awry for Dex.

“So why are you in here?” Nursey asked innocently, with the tone of a bored professor.

“None of your business, Nurse,” Dex replied, admittedly a bit hostile.

“Chill out man, you can tell me, it’s not like I’m gonna make a-“ and just like that, Nurse leaned just that little bit too far forward, making the situation all that much worse. “Oh,” was all he said, voice quieting almost immediately.

“Yep,” was all Dex could think to say, his higher reasoning and snark paralyzed with fear and adrenaline.

“Do you want some help with that?” Nursey said, after what seemed like an hour of silence.

“Do I…What?”

“Do you want help with that?” Nursey repeated, slower this time, with more of a lilt that Dex just couldn’t decipher.

“Are…are you…”

“It’s chill if you don’t want to, I was just offeri-“

“No, I…I do, it’s just. I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. This wouldn’t just be some casual closet handjob for me, it’d be…” Dex trailed off, trying to find the right words to say. If only his brain would fucking work properly instead of focusing on the smell of Nursey’s cologne that was slowly permeating their enclosed space. Stupid fucking brain, can’t even tell the guy you’re pretty sure you’re in love with that you’re in love with him when he’s literally asking if you want a handjob. What the fuck.

“You’re in love with me?” Nursey asked, the tonal whiplash evident in the complete lack of “be chill” in his voice. No attempt to mince words or construct some elaborate persona, this was just Nursey, pure and simple.

“Shit, I didn’t mean to say that out loud, I’m sorry, fuck, I know that like, you probably think I’m insufferable, but-“ Dex immediately tried to cover for himself, tried to get out of the truth. And then, before he could start to panic, there was a pair of lips on his, a body pressed against him, hands grasping at his face. It was exhilarating, it was everything Dex had ever dreamed about.

“Fuck, dude, I love you too,” Nursey breathed, when the pair finally melted apart. “I’ve been so scared to tell you, but I love you too.”

“Why would you be scared to tell me?” Dex said, in wild disbelief. “I mean, you’re…you’re like, you’re like the literal embodiment of the sun and I’m just me.”

“First off, very poetic,” Nursey quipped, which earned him a harsh warning tap on the hip, “Second off, I was scared to tell you because I didn’t want to know what would happen if we didn’t share the same feelings.”

“Oh, so you were willing to touch my dick, but not my heart? That’s ice cold, Nurse,” Dex snarks, at which Nursey cracks up laughing.

“Yo, fuck you, Poindexter,” he says, no malice to be heard anywhere in his voice.

“You wish.”

“You might be right…but Bitty would kill us if we did it here in the hall closet.”

“I mean, we do have a room…” Dex offers cautiously.

“We do indeed have a room,” Nursey agrees, taking Dex by the hand and leading him out the door.


End file.
